Credit - Gainesville Sun

Patrick Miller Returns to Panhandle After Hurricane Michael

The Gainesville High School Football team is hosting the Leesburg Yellow Jackets in a conference home game tonight. The Hurricanes are coming off a two-game losing streak.

Head coach Patrick Miller says, “I told them we have two games that we have to win out, so there’s no need to worry about what has occurred.”

However, while Miller has been preparing his team on the field, he’s also had to focus on personal things off the field.

Hurricane Michael

Miller’s parents and other family members live in Florida’s panhandle and were there when Hurricane Michael hit. This past weekend Miller went up to visit his family and see what damage had been done.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” Miller said.

Upon arrival, Miller and his wife said his parent’s neighborhood was unrecognizable.

When Miller got there, all he saw was disruption. He described it as a “bomb going off.”

Miller said there were trees and debris everywhere. He saw trailers and trains turned upside down and power lines on the ground.

Miller brought a truck-full of supplies up to the Panhandle with him. His truck was full of water, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, plywood and he even brought up a chainsaw.

His family members didn’t even have water to flush their toilets.

Luckily, Miller’s parents are okay. He said they only had a couple days of roughness. Miller and his wife went up to the Panhandle to pick them up and also did some work to his parent’s house and other family members houses.

However, not everyone was as lucky. Miller says the Panhandle still has a long way to go.

Miller says the community is sticking together there.

“Everyone has a big heart there, and they are happy they are alive,” Miller said.

Miller was happy to see people from everywhere helping there. He saw people from Texas, convoys from South Beach, and police from Georgia.

When talking about the damage and destruction, Miller had one request: for everyone to keep the panhandle in their prayers.

About Sydney Jones

Sydney is a senior studying telecommunications with a specialization in sports media at the University of Florida. She is a multimedia sports reporter for ESPN 98.1 FM/850 AM WRUF and WUFT-TV.

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